Navy blasted over undersea explosives plan
● The South African Navy is due to start an underwater explosive exercise next week, around the corner from the country’s biggest African penguin colony.
The plan detonated outrage from local residents who fear harmful environmental impacts, particularly on the endangered penguins of Boulders Beach.
Protesters, some of them in kayaks, gathered at Simon’s Town’s Long Beach yesterday morning to demand that the navy cancel the exercise.
News of the drill circulated widely on social media this week after the navy published a navigational alert to warn of a shallow-water detonation exclusion zone effective for a week from January 22. It is understood the exercise will take place at some point during the week-long period, possibly lasting one or two days.
The exclusion zone is immediately to the east of the Simon’s Town naval base, slightly offshore and away from the tidal zone. Though the navy has yet to comment on the plan, sources say the drill involves “small training charges” used by navy divers, and not big blasts or major sonic booms of the kind used by companies prospecting for oil and gas.
“The navy has been doing these firings for as long as I remember — in fact, long before the penguins settled in the vicinity,” said retired Rear Admiral Arne Söderlund.
“There will be no big demolition-type charges as they usually use scare charges, which are used to deter divers in the water. They are also of short duration and rely on certain sea conditions [that] often include divers — thus the blanket warning to allow optimum conditions.”
However, many residents feel the country should rather spend its resources on protecting the environment or managing wildlife challenges such as rampant wildfires or marine poaching. Yesterday, firefighters were battling the latest blaze outside Simon’s Town, one of several flare-ups in a series of fires that many, including some city officials, say are the result of arson.
One local resident said Simon’s Town feels under siege, with a combination of mountain fires and planned underwater explosives. “It feels like fire from above and fire from below,” she said.
A memo attached to Saturday’s protest notification said: “With coastal wildlife already so vulnerable, we want transparency about these destructive activities, including their use, necessity, and their environmental impact. Just because this has been happening for 60 years, does not mean that it should be allowed to continue unchallenged.
“Given the proximity to the endangered penguin colony and the value of the kelp forest and the biodiversity in the area, we op
It feels like fire from above and fire from below
pose ANY damage that will be caused. Blasting in a tidal zone, which is a hugely sensitive area and breeding ground for many red-listed species of all conservation statuses, should never be allowed,” the memo said.
But Söderlund insists the underwater training is a critical part of military preparedness: “The navy is expected to provide certain capabilities, which includes underwater explosive ordinance demolition and have to train, practice and remain [up to date].
“They also live and work close to the sea and love the critters that live in it. The navy is ‘damned if it does and damned if it does not’.”
The navy did not respond to queries by the Sunday Times.